


O Captain, My Captain

by Xairathan



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Drabble, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:50:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3930535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xairathan/pseuds/Xairathan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oneshot based at the end of 3.33, just after Asuka gets picked up from the desert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	O Captain, My Captain

The red soil from the wet earth below hasn't yet had time to dry and crust around the soles of Asuka's plugsuit when she barges into the library. It takes the remainder of her restraint- already paper-thin from two weeks of dragging Shinji around and putting up with the silent Ayanami-type- to keep from ripping the door off its hinges. "Hey, Kone-megane, finally found you," Asuka mutters as she leans against the doorway.

 

Mari doesn't look up from the book she has nestled in her hands. The ends of Asuka's mouth curve down into a frown as she notices Mari's disheveled state: her twin-tails are unkempt, as if they haven't been attended to for days, and she slumps against the metal chair as if the life has been sucked out of her.

 

"Hey," Asuka repeats, her eye flickering dangerously in Mari's direction. Her companion of fourteen years makes no movement, no acknowledging motion. Not even an exhale of relief. "Some way of saying hello," the German snarls under her breath, not caring if Mari hears her or not. She scrapes her feet against the metal floor, leaving streaks of rust-red dirt on the otherwise clean surfaces. Someone's going to have to clean that up later, she notes, and yet she doesn't give a shit. Asuka's hands clench into fists; her shoulders twitch, and she reminds herself what happened the last time she let her anger get the better of her.

 

A cracked glass pane and the Third Child's shocked face cross her memory. Asuka closes her lone eye and heaves a heavy sigh. The other's gaze never leaves the page, instead tracing what seems to be a single line over and over again. _One last try,_ Asuka thinks, and she clears her throat. Loudly. Finally, she gets a response.

 

"You know, you picked a lousy time to show up." There's none of Mari's usual cheerfulness in that statement, only a fatigue that Asuka has never heard before. Her eyes finish scrolling down the page and roll back up to the top, still avoiding Asuka's.

 

Asuka pushes off the door frame, slamming one hand against it while the other trembles at her side. The steel warps slightly around her knuckles, groaning softly in protest. "Yeah? And what do you mean by that?" Mari responds with silence. A low growl resonating from her throat, Asuka stalks forward, wrapping her fingers across the top of Mari's book and pulling it away. Only then does Mari look up, a light returning to her dulled eyes.

 

"You're real," gasps Mari, her attention switching from her book to the previously missing pilot. Her lips remain parted in astonishment, mouthing those same words to herself, as she leans forward in her seat. "You came back."

 

The redhead scoffs. "What, after all these years, you still don't have any faith in me?"

 

"It's not that." Fingers, pale from a lack of sunlight, find their way beneath red-rimmed lenses as Mari rubs her eyes. Despite the smile spreading across her face, Asuka can still hear the uneven breaths that her partner takes, so different from her normal, measured breathing she's grown used to. Mari makes no attempt to compose herself, nor does she move her hands to get a look at Asuka. "It's just... the people I attach myself to disappear, and they tend not to come back." The grin widens, and Asuka knows immediately who Mari refers to.

 

Finding herself at a loss for words, Asuka looks down at the book in her hand, flipping it so the text lies right-side up. Neatly arrayed English stares back at her, and it takes a moment for Asuka to recognize what she's looking at. "Tch. You were reading _this_ for the ten minutes I spent staring at you? How depressing can you get?" Her fingers trail down the page, pausing occasionally on an odd word, until finally Asuka snaps the book shut.

 

The sound of heavy pages meeting startles Mari out of her thoughts. Lowering her hands and meeting Asuka's gaze for the first time, she says, "It was quiet without you around. Didn't have anything to do, so I just... came here." She gestures at the book in Asuka's hand. "I found that yesterday. It kind of reminded me of my time in London, before- before all this. I didn't know _that poem_ was going to be in there; I just noticed it today after Misato barred me from leaving the crew decks, and-"

 

"So you've been reading all this time?" Asuka asks, her clipped tone cutting easily through Mari's ramblings. "You couldn't have been more productive? You know, get in your _intact Unit_ and come looking for me, instead of holing up here and reading dead guys' diary entries?" A dismissive wave of her arm throws the book back at Mari; it lands on the floor, no attempt having been made to catch it. Instead, metal screeches against metal as Mari stands, pushing her chair back as she closes the distance between herself and Asuka.

 

"You don't think I wanted to?" shouts Mari, her voice echoing off the library walls. "I tried! I wanted to go after you the moment after the moment Fourth Impact stopped, but I didn't see where your entry plug went! I tried to go out in Unit Eight, but Misato wouldn't let me, and she's kept the damn thing under lockdown ever since she picked me up!" The brunette's hands find their way to Asuka's shoulders, where they cling to her, as if Asuka's presence is an anchor that can steady her broken world.

 

"I was worried about you." Mari's voice drops- her words are barely a whisper. "I couldn't pick up your signal f-for days. And then when Misato told us to prepare for landing, she ordered me to stay away from the entry bays. When I tried to go down she had Sakura take me back up here, and I thought the worst- I thought you-"

 

Mari breaks away, tearing her hands away from Asuka to remove her glasses and rub at her eyes, as Asuka steps past her to pick up the book on the ground. "So that's why you kept reading this?" she asks. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Mari nod. Placing the book on Mari's vacated chair, she goes over to her partner, easing the red frames out of her trembling hands. "Hey. It's okay," Asuka says, gently taking the glasses and setting them on the bridge of Mari's nose. "I'm not leaving any time soon, Kone-megane."

 

Asuka feels Mari's whisper of "good" more than she hears it. Mari's arms settle around her shoulders and her head comes to rest in the crook of Asuka's neck, the nervous knots in her frame unraveling at the other's touch.  The redhead sighs, her relief barely masked by an exasperated, "You gonna be okay?"

 

"Mm, yeah, now that you're here." And, so that Asuka knows everything will be fine, Mari smirks and throws in a verbal jab. "O Captain, my Captain."

**Author's Note:**

> _A/N: Yeah it's a reference to Asuka's rank in Rebuild_  
>  I'm surprised I didn't make the connection with this poem sooner tbh  
> You know, you'd think I'd be better with summaries after all this time, just saying.  
> Yeah that's it 


End file.
